Bit by a Pit Bull

It happened on a service call yesterday. The customer said the dog was chained, and I followed her out the back door.
Well, he was on a chain, but it was too long. He shot past her, and before I even saw him, he was sinking his teeth into my right wrist and looking me in the eye. No bark or warning of any kind.
My first thought was @##*^!!! that hurts!.
I retreated back into the house and headed for the first aid kit in my van.
My second thought, as I was looking at the exposed tendons through the holes in my skin, and losing all sensation in my hand, was hoping this didn't impact my guitar playing.
As of this evening, the wound seems to be healing properly, but the doctor says some superficial nerve damage may be permanent.
I can hold a pick, but I can't entirely feel it yet. Hoping for the best.

Ouch! All my best wishes for a complete recovery, Bob. And DO press charges!

PIT BULLS...
 
cannot be trusted.
 
 

If only, Straummy, ol pal. If only.

Too bad the pooches always take the rap for those dimbulbed and misguided owners who breed them, chain them and train them to be vicious.

Human beings...why bother?

Hope you heal up perfectly, Robert.

I think you need to sue for damages some new gear! 
 
Good thing you were able to get the dog to let you go.

Whoa!  Sorry to hear that, Bob.  Best wishes on a quick and complete recovery.  

Sorry to hear that. I hope you fully recover. Remember that even if you do suffer some kind of permanent damage, as a guitar player you'll work around it. Look at Django Reinhardt and Jerry Garcia. 
 
I know pit bulls are a controversial topic with a lot of emotion on both sides. I've worked with dogs for over 10 years, including dozens of pit bulls, and my take on them is this. They can be the sweetest dogs imaginable and very often are. But when they do snap, they can do a lot more damage in a far shorter time than other breeds. They have a lot of power. I've seen and experienced a lot of "incidents" with pit bulls and my personal feeling is that they do tend to escalate things more than other breeds. Like if two non-pit bulls are playing and it gets a bit rough and there's a lot of growling going on, they tend to keep it within a certain limit. But I've seen pits get into play fights and the growling starts and they just don't know when to stop and before you know it they're savaging each other pretty brutally. Bear in mind this is a generalization and a statistical pattern I've noticed - there are exceptions. 
 
Personally I think they're unsuitable as family pets if there are kids in the house. Any dog is capable of snapping if provoked enough - the difference is that when a pit snaps, the potential for serious injury or even death is much higher than with most other breeds. If a chihuahua goes for your kid's neck then you're going to be able to get it off fairly quickly without much serious damage done. If a pit goes for your kid's neck there could be life changing injuries or worse before you manage to get it off - if you can. You might even have to resort to stabbing the dog with a knife, although there are other ways to get a dog to release its prey (nip the base of its tail hard or lift its hind legs up). 
 
To tell you the truth though I'm more frightened of chihuahuas - lol! They can be horrible vicious little creatures and they have been responsible for more biting incidents among my employees than any other breed. They never do much damage in the way of injuries, but once you've been bitten by one, they make you nervous. Like when you're reaching for their collar to put the leash on and they're giving you the stink eye and their lip is curling up. Once bitten twice shy! 
 
But pits...always be very careful around them because of their strength. 

Hope you recover quickly and fully.

Very true Sharke. In most situations, you have 15-20 seconds to size up the situation. That may not seem like much, but it's enough for you, the owner, and the dog to establish a position. If it's going South, most owners put the dog in a room, or otherwise contain him. More often than not, the dog picks up on the vibe from its owner that I should be there. Some get a little too comfortable, and it is difficult to work because the dog wants to put its head in my lap. On many occasions, dogs that don't normally agree with strangers have been incredibly comfortable with me, and shocked the heck out of their owners.
Pits can go either way, but as you say, they are very strong. If they are comfortable with you, it's probably an ok situation. If not....
I don't do Dobies, period. They are predictable and not good. Same with Rotts.
Labs, Collies, etc are fine. If you get on the bad side of those, you probably deserve it.
Little dogs are generally more scary. You're right again, Chihuahuas can be a real pita.
Fortunately, boots and loose fitting pants are a good defense.
On  positive note, I played for about 30 minutes tonight. It hurt like hell, but it felt good.

Yup...Boston's do seem willful and "alphas". Ours was a rescue from a puppy mill. She was destined to be a "momma". In fact she'd already had a litter when she was just a year old. She had multiple medical and social issues which took us a couple years to sort out. But now she could not be a better companion...except for how she bosses our totally sweet, compliant Boxer, Buss. Pip, the Boston, as you might expect, runs the show. But now, with constant "parenting" they are best pals and playmates. But, Buss knows who's boss. Pip's nickname is the tiny terror. Instigator is just about right:-)

Wishing you well and you should definitely go for charges, I hate to see dogs maligned when the owners are to 100% blame but once you have a badly trained and violent dog it is hard to correct.
 
Positive vibes on your healing.

It sucks that this is going to be a constant "hazard of the job", but wish you the best of luck on the recovery Bob!!

This is the reason pitbulls and associated breeds are now banned in the UK. We've had too many deaths of babies and young children recently caused by bull terriers.
 
As Tom said, pitbulls were deliberately bred to fight and you can't take that mental attitude away from them with a "loving home".

Don't feed the tigers and don't....well...do this.